Refurbishment of a 17th Century property into a Museum – Completed 2013

Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum is the first public museum to open in Britain, respected for its focus on quality research and development and part of the University of Oxford. In 2010 the Ashmolean took the opportunity to work with Worcestershire County Council and other local stakeholders to transform the 17th century former coaching inn in the Cotswold village of Broadway, known as ‘Tudor House’, into a new Museum – The Ashmolean Museum Broadway.

The building itself underwent a major physical refurbishment to ensure every aspect met the highest museum standards. The work took several months and involved skilled contractors to install the new electrical and security systems, which had to meet national museum standards. Just like the Arts and Crafts Architect, C.E.Mallows, who carried out the last major refurbishment in 1908, we carefully maintained all of the building’s beautiful, fascinating listed features.

The historic house itself has its own history and stories, so the objects for display were chosen from the Ashmolean collections, expanding on the themes of the property itself and keeping a local Cotswolds relevance. The museum opened to the public in autumn 2013 and achieved the accolade of being the most significant cultural contribution to Worcestershire in a generation. You can see more here, on the museum’s website (link to www.ashmoleanbroadway.org )

Praise for Monard’s work

“With such a sensitive and important project, the Ashmolean knew it had to use a well trusted and experienced contractor to oversee the extensive refurbishment works. The building needed rewiring and a substantial security system upgrade in order to meet the National Indemnity Standards for museums. Monard can also claim to be the first company to install a fire alarm system into this property, which has an age of over almost 400 years!”

Victoria McGuinness, Ashmolean Museum Project Manager (2007-2014)

Check the project out in the press:

• Museums and Heritage
• BBC news
• Culture 24

Rewiring and relighting of galleries and storerooms – Completed 2010

In 2010 the Ashmolean Museum completed another stage in its transformation thanks to the opening of the Cast Gallery. This is one of the country’s biggest collections of plaster casts, taken from the monuments and sculptures of the ancient world. Now the Cast Gallery, once a separate building, is an integral part of the museum and has been completely redisplayed.

The Ashmolean cast collection began in 1884 and was displayed in its own purpose-built gallery in 1960. Until then visitors to the Cast Gallery had to leave the main museum building and go around to the back to get in, which was less than ideal for such an important collection. Now the gallery has been joined to the ground floor of the rest of the museum, and there’s a large break-through in the gallery’s external wall.

The project integrated the cast collection with those of the museum’s Ancient World Galleries, finally letting visitors see the sculptures of the ancient Mediterranean in their wider cultural and historical contexts. The collection is invaluable for teaching a range of subjects, vital for artists and for members of the public who, through these displays, enjoy access to sculpture from all over the world.

The refurbishment included gutting the original galleries, fixing the plaster walls and ceilings, sanding and sealing the beautiful parquet floors, major rewiring, installation of a security and fire detection system, plus gallery design and promenade relighting.

Praise for Monard’s work

“As a project on a tight budget, the Cast Gallery refurbishment had to be swift and accurate. The knowledge of Monard and the ability to work to the high standards of the University of Oxford meant that the project ran smoothly and was completed on time and on budget. The funding body was impressed with the results and has funded the Museum for other subsequent projects, which is essential for the Ashmolean to continue developing and refreshing its displays for its wide audiences.”

Victoria McGuinness – Ashmolean Museum Project Manager (2007-2014)

You can find out more in the media.

• The Ashmolean
• Oxford Mail
• All Art News

Electrical rewire and new installation – Completed 2014

Christ Church is a unique institution, one of the largest colleges in the University of Oxford and the Cathedral Church for the Diocese of Oxford. It has a world famous Cathedral Choir, large scholarly collections of books and art, and is enjoyed by numerous visitors and guests at conferences and Summer Schools.

This was a unique installation covering every aspect of electrical and ancillary services. We upgraded the submains and fitted a new distribution, complete with remote monitored metering. We added a network system of inscreed ducting and conduits designed to maintain a discreet and rewire-able electrical installation. A complete new lighting system, with LED tape to all the internal stone work featured individual addresses for multi configuration and end user operation. The lighting was wired through an inverter and change over relays, creating a non-standard, far from straight forward lighting circuit. A complete new fire and security alarm installation was also carried out, monitored exclusively by the Christ Church lodge.

We worked closely with the main contractors, Knowles and Son Ltd, to ensure the client's needs were met to everyone's satisfaction before, during and after the project. And we maintained regular communication with the electrical consultants CBG throughout the project so every technical and practical outcomes was achieved in exactly the right way. The electrical engineers dedicated to this project were present from day one through to completion, a way of working designed to ensure regular personal contact between the
main and sub-contractors.

Praise for Monard’s work

Our work was praised by Mark Brewster, CBG Electrical Engineer, Tony Morris, Clerk of the Works and Adam Jagger, Knowles & Son Ltd Contracts Manager.

Refurbishment of the east wing – Completed 2013

Green Templeton College officially formed in October 2008 via a merger between Green and Templeton colleges. The resulting institution majors on medical and life sciences and management studies. Monard Electrical has carried out several projects for the college recently, including rewires of college properties, maintenance and test inspections.

Praise for Monard’s work

“Green Templeton College embarked on sympathetically restoring the east wing of the grade 1 listed 18th Century Radcliffe Observatory. Whilst restoring the fabric and furnishings we took the opportunity to modernise the M&E services. A new BMS plant room, mains panel and lighting were included in the upgrade. As acting Project Manager I was very pleased with the skills, dedication and attention to detail provided by the appointed contractors. A special mention has to be awarded to Monard Electrical, who were very effective and professional in their role as Principal Contractor and remained within budget and met a tight deadline. On completion we invited all involved parties to a ‘thank you’ tea at which conservation stamped their seal of approval and the college Vice Principal extended her gratitude to Monard Electrical”

Steve Williams, Maintenance Manager, Green Templeton College

Randolph Sculpture Gallery lighting upgrade for Beard Construction – Completed 2012

Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum is the world’s first university museum, built from 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities given to the museum by Elias Ashmole in 1677. The museum reopened in 2009 after a major redevelopment and, in late 2011, new galleries focusing on treasures from Egypt and Nubia were unveiled.

The lighting upgrade was carried out in close collaboration with the museum. We installed new track lighting and architectural lighting, a Hoare Lea scheme involving clever track-mounted LED spotlights, including the Type X from Mike Stoane Lighting and the DR2 by Remote Controlled Lighting. The track we used coordinated sympathetically with the decorative ceiling cornice straps, and we developed special brackets for remote control lighting to ensure close coordination with the cornice straps and the track system. The resulting installation was both minimal and neat.

Praise for Monard’s work

“The Randolph Sculpture Gallery is one of the most iconic spaces in the Museum and is regularly used for a variety of different events and is particularly popular for weddings. We therefore needed a flexible scheme that provided both world-class lighting for the Arundel marbles during the day but was also appropriate for evening events. A great challenge which has been met by this remarkably flexible lighting scheme which enhances the architecture, highlights the collections and enables us to have wonderful evening events.”

Harry Phythian-Adams, Executive Officer

“The Ashmolean is delighted with the lighting scheme, the space shows the Ashmolean’s world renowned Arundel Marbles, which are now displayed in a gallery which is beautifully integrated into the Ashmolean’s new Ancient World floor.”

Professor Christopher Brown CBE, Director Ashmolean

“We were tasked with a general refurbishment of the Randolph Gallery with a completion deadline set in stone to accommodate an important function. The lighting and electrical works formed the major part of these works and were crucial to the success of the project. We worked in partnership with Monard, the Museum and consultants to develop and deliver the scheme ahead of time and to a high standard which the customer was delighted with. Monards were key to the success of this project and the approach of both
office and site staff was excellent. They were flexible & considerate on site in the difficult environment of working in a live museum and their technical input and advice to overcome design issues was a invaluable in achieving the overall success of the scheme.”

Nick Bradley, Beards Construction

You can find out more about the project here.

• Hoare Lighting
• Mondoarc